2010 / 2011 BMW 528i / 540i / 550i / 535d / 5-Series

Now that the Sevens out of the bag, spies turn their eyes to the Fives.

Just as BMW releases official photos and talking points of the all-new 2009 BMW 7-series, we capture these spy shots of the sixth-generation 5-series, caught testing here in the U.S.

The timing couldn’t be better—now that we know exactly what the new Seven looks like, we know a lot more about where BMW will be taking the Five. And the similarities are numerous.

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Indeed, wrapped front to rear in the skin of a current-generation 7-series, trunklid and all, is an all-new 5-series body that is several inches longer in wheelbase and at least an inch or two longer overall.

Based on what we see around the door handles, we can tell that the bodysides will feature the same waistline pinch and bright door handles that both help to break up the Seven’s massive flanks. Also like the Seven, the nose appears lower, with a wide, low twin-kidney grille. The rear doors look much longer, suggesting newfound rear-seat space (which the current car could certainly use).

And the much maligned “Bangle Butt” will go away in spite of what the cladding suggests. Wheels will range from 17 to 19 inches in diameter.

Interior shots also show many similarities to the Seven, including the same button-laden steering wheel, black-panel gauges, driver-oriented dash contouring, electronic parking brake, and likely the new-generation iDrive that debuts on the 2009 7-series. And, somewhat reassuring in the day and age of dual-clutch automated manuals, is that this particular test car has a conventional shift-it-yourself manual transmission.

Twin-Turbos Under the Hood

As for the powertrains for U.S. models, we expect base models to come with BMW’s venerable inline-six, which will probably remain at 3.0-liters, but will most certainly get direct injection and a commensurate power increase. The new 5-series will most certainly be offered in 540i guise, powered by the same twin-turbocharged inline-six (322 horsepower/332 pound-feet of torque) in the new Seven, as well as a 550i model with the same 400-hp, 450-lb-ft 4.4-liter turbo V-8.

We also fully expect at least one all-wheel-drive variant, as well as a diesel-powered 535d motivated by BMW’s excellent turbodiesel six with at least 240 horsepower and nearly 400 lb-ft of torque. Oh yeah, and an M5 model would be a relatively safe bet, too.

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BMW tends to stagger its core sedan product launches in two-year increments, and if the launch follows the same schedule as the Seven, we expect to see the first official pictures in about summer of 2010, followed by the first deliveries in early 2011 as an ’11 model for the U.S. But we could get a look at the new Five as soon as this fall’s auto show circuit, and there is always the possibility that the car goes on sale as a 2009 model, at least in Europe. The M5 will probably arrive a year or so later. Meanwhile, our spies will continue hunting for Fives on the move.